Looking Like America

Bill Clinton's appointments Friday and Saturday went a long way toward meeting a campaign pledge to make his administration "look like America."

He picked three women and one African-American for top jobs, and there are likely to be more -- including the possibility of a female attorney general.

Diversity is not a new concept, of course. Compared with other presidents, President Bush has a good record of appointing women and members of minority groups to high office. Mr. Clinton's challenge is to build on that record.

University of Wisconsin Chancellor Donna E. Shalala will be secretary of Health and Human Services. Connecticut residents might remember her work here in the 1970s, when she helped write the formula that gave more state education aid to poor cities and towns. She also is a leading advocate for children and, like Hillary Clinton, was chairman of the Children's Defense Fund.

Mr. Clinton chose Carol Browner of Florida to head the Environmental Protection Agency, University of California economist Laura D'Andrea Tyson to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Harvard University policy analyst Robert Reich to be secretary of Labor.

For Commerce secretary, the president-elect chose Ron Brown, the first African-American to head the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Brown's tenure as party chairman has been highly successful. He earned bi-partisan support for his leadership and organizational skills.

And for his chief of staff, Mr. Clinton reached to a childhood friend and veteran of Arkansas Democratic politics. Thomas F. McLarty certainly is not a Washington insider. He should help bring about the changes that Mr. Clinton promises.

Some of those named Friday and Saturday have worked in the federal government before, but are not part of the permanent Washington power structure. That offsets the congressional insiders chosen earlier for top economic jobs, and restores the outsider aura of the new administration. The latest appointments are people known as activists who strongly support the change-oriented

policies pushed by the Clinton-Gore team during the campaign.

After three rounds of appointments, it is becoming clear that the president-elect is goal-oriented in choosing the top members of his administration. He is looking for people who can help him get his program enacted, rather than placing the most emphasis on "ticket-balancing" and paying off political debts. Some of those who figured in early speculation for high-level posts because of their close relationship to Mr. Clinton -- such as former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin -- have been passed over so far.

Mr. Clinton also is demonstrating his reputation for being politically shrewd. Placing his friend and adviser Mr. Reich at the Labor Department rather than in one of the top economic jobs perhaps will spare him immediate criticism. Mr. Reich's ideas for expanded government involvement in the economy are controversial.

Mr. Clinton has been slow to reveal his personnel choices, compared with some recent presidents, but the early results suggest that he has been careful and has picked well